
Glass JBXia 



'*IVHY WEEPEST THOU?" 

91G 



My Dear Friend: - 

If this little booklet has comforted 
you, would you not like to comfort someone else 
who perhaps is now in great grief? If so, why 
not loan it to that person and try to ''keep it 
going"? It is impossible for one person to know 
all who suffer and the bounden duty of all who 
can to comfort those who grieve. 

Please, therefore, make this little book 
count for as much as possible by having all read it 
who you think would be interested. 

Cordially yours. 




To Her 

Whose vanished hand I hope once more to clasp 
in Friendship and in Love.'' 



hur-i-^^lsL^ . '^A.OaaJL^ 7 , 



(I :''/ 



**WHY WEEPEST THOU?" 

UohnXX-l3:) 



3 ^/f f f 



The sole purpose of this booklet is to comfort the sorrowing. To 
them it is a free gift. If possible to prevent, it shall never be sold. 
For this reason it has been 

Copyrighted, 1913, 

Bp Frank T. Lodge, 

Detroit, Mich. 

It is not, however, intended to use the copyright for selfish pur* 
poses. If, therefore, it should be desired to reprint the contents 
of the booklet for an unselfish purpose, that privilege will be freely 
granted upon application to the holder of the copyright. 






OCT 21 1918 



A CKNO WLEDGEMENTS 



) T gratefully acknowledge » with 

I sincere and heartfelt apprecia- 
tion, my indebtedness to my 
friends, Mrs. Lou B. Webster, who 
first suggested to me the idea of this 
booklet; Dr. J. D. Buck, 33o, who 
first caused to be opened up to me the 
way to a personal instruction in Nat- 
ural Science, and who has since 
then, in numberless instances, laid me 
under obligation to him; the dearly 
beloved Master TK. , the Center and 
Inspiration of the Great Work in 
America, who has kindly permitted 
me to use the copyrighted matter of the 
Harmonic Texts herein quoted; and 
my dear friend and beloved Instructor, 
Charles Crane, who has, for many 
months, guided my footsteps along 
the Southward Path and who has 
very kindly relieved me of the busi- 
ness and mechanical details of the 
publication of this booklet. 



"WHY WEEPEST THOU?" 



My Dear Friend: — 

I wish I could make you feel how deeply I 
sympathize with you, — ^how I long to say or do 
something that may help to comfort and console 
you in this your crushing grief. Possibly, it 
may help you to know some of the things that 
have happened to me since I was bowed and 
crushed like you under the heavy burden of 
the greatest sorrow of my life. 

On the third day of August, 191 1, I was 
wakened out of a sound sleep to receive the news 
that my dear Wife was dead. She had been in a 
Sanitarium for a month. Every report was 
encouraging. I had arranged a beautiful trip 
for us both up the Lakes. The thought of her 
death had not occurred to me. 

Her disease (nervous prostration) was such that 
I had not been permitted to see her for eight days 
before her death, although we exchanged mes- 
sages each day. I was busy preparing for our 
trip, when, ' ^in a moment, in the twinkling of an 
eye," she was gone and I had left me only the 

[ 7 ] 



''Why Weepest Thou?'' 



dear dead face and form which, I knew, must soon 
be put away from my sight. 

Do you now sufifer? So then did I. Are 
you dazed and stimned and helpless? As you 
now are, so then was I. Do you stretch out 
your arms into the darkness and long and sob and 
pray for the dear one to come back, if only for a 
moment, to say Good-bye? Again and again did 
I do that very thing. 

But it was useless. She had gone, never to 
return, and whatever thoughts I had of ever see- 
ing her again were promiseless as to this world 
and dim, misty and indefinite as to the world to 
come. 

I believed in Immortality. I believed that 
the Soul which God had given my dear wife 
could never die. I felt that the beautiful body 
which had housed it for far too brief a period 
was only its outer garment, which she had laid 
aside because she had outgrown it. 

But what had become of HER? What was 
SHE doing? Where had SHE gone? What 
kind of a life was SHE leading now? In what 
form would I see her again? 

Oh! how these questions agonized me in the 
silent watches of the night as I gazed up into the 
darkness, trying, so vainly, to pierce a way 
through to her! 

I had read and heard of Re-incarnation; and, 



[ 8 



''Why Weepest Thouf' 



again and again, the thought tortured me that, 
possibly, that would be the form which her 
future life would immediately take, that she 
would be * ^Re-incarnated" out of all knowledge 
or memory of the husband who loved her, that 
the Wife whom I loved so dearly was forever gone, 
never again, in conscious identity, to greet, or be 
greeted by, me. 

My Dear Friend, I have been just where you 
are now. I have suffered just what you now 
suffer; and, because I have at last foimd comfort, 
and because I love you and wish so much to 
lighten and console your grief, I want to open a 
way so that you may, if you desire, be comforted 
as I have been. I think I can best do this by 
relating to you my experience. It is a sacred 
thing to me and you may appreciate how much 
I want to help you when I lay bare my heart to 
you in this way. 

When Mrs. Lodge died, I had been for years 
identified with the different activities of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church and had held a 
number of its offices. In addition to the wide 
experience which the active practice of the law 
brings, I had been a physician for a number of 
years; and, as a medical jurist, had come into 
frequent contact with the bodies of the dead. 

I had also been for nearly a quarter of a century 
an exceedingly active Freemason, had drunk 



[ 9 ] 



''Why Weepest Thouf' 



deeply at the fountains of its inspiration, had 
studied its history and what I then understood 
to be its symbolism. Night after night, and week 
after week, in its different departments, I had 
taught incoming candidates its lofty lessons as 
to the Resurrection of the Body and the Im- 
mortality of the Soul. Frequently, I had con- 
ducted the funeral service of the Craft over the 
mortal remains of a deceased brother and had 
spoken to bereaved ones the words of hope and 
cheer which that impressive service contains. 

So it seemed as if the experiences of my entire 
mature life should have prepared me to accept 
with resignation and cheerfulness this parting 
from the dearest thing on earth to me, to look 
upon it as simply temporary and, joyfully, hope- 
fully, to press forward, serenely confident that we 
two would soon be reunited. 

But, when the blow came hom_e to me^ when it 
was my hearthstone that was desolated and my 
heart that was emptied, all these things failed me. 
I could not be cheerful. I could not be resigned. 

I was wise enough to know that no amount of 
grief and lamentation would bring back my dear 
Dead, and that all I could do was, dumbly, 
stolidly, to take the blows of Fate and stagger 
on in the darkness. 

I could not sleep except from pure physical 
exhaustion. I could not eat except when forced 



[ lo ] 



''Why Weepest Thou?'' 



by absolute hunger. In the morning, I was sorry 
another day of misery had dawned and I shud- 
dered when the time came at night for me to try 
to force my eyes into the sleep that came not. 

One Sunday morning, early, I went out to the 
cemetery with a friend; and, as we stood over my 
wife's grave, he told me what I had so often heard 
and had so often repeated to others, that the Soul 
never dies, that the physical body is but a garment 
and the Soul goes on in endless evolution in worlds 
to which this beautiful physical world of ours can 
bear no manner of comparison. 

But my friend told me the old, old story in a 
very different way from an3rthing I had ever 
heard before. He spoke '^as one having authority", 
as one who had, himself, seen and heard the things 
whereof he told me; and, for the first time, a feel- 
ing of hope and a sense of comfort sprang up in 
my heart. 

The next day, I stopped at his office at the close 
of the day's work and asked permission to ride 
home with him on the street car. Again he told 
me those wonderful things, which, up to the time 
of our first conversation, I had never heard before ; 
that the two worlds of matter and spirit, here 
and hereafter, are but one, so closely co-related 
and co-ordinated that, to ^'one who knows", 
the transition is very simple, short and easy to 
make; that the Great God, the Universal Intel- 



[ II ] 



a 



Why Weepest Thou?'' 



ligence, who formed this wonderful, physical 
world and regulates it by the silent, changeless 
operation of immutable law, framed also the world 
of Spirits and governs it in the same way; that 
the Spiritual World is also a world of matter 
closely resembling this; that those who are trans- 
ferred from this world to that carry with them 
consciously their own identities and selves; that 
they love and hate, are wise and foolish, work and 
play there in much the same manner as they did 
here; that there are schools and colleges there 
wherein those who have been denied Opportunity 
here may drink as deeply and quaff as freely a^ 
they please of the fountains of knowledge and 
wisdom, that the separation which death brings 
to loved ones is only half a separation and, 
while these dear ones may have vanished from 
our sight, yet our spiritual selves, our thoughts 
and deeds of love and memory are fully known 
to them; that, by absolutely scientific methods, 
^^one who knows" may himself enter the Spirit 
World, converse with its inhabitants face to face 
and return to the physical world imharmed. 

And, as my friend talked to me so wisely, so 
gently, so comfortingly, a peace fell upon me 
which I had never hoped to experience again, and 
I marvelled where this man (who, up to that 
time, had seemed to me to be just an ordinary 
human everyday being) could have secuied this 



[ 12 ] 



''Why Weepest Thou?'' 



wonderful knowledge, and I asked him, ^ ^ Where 
on earth did you learn these things?^' 

He replied, ' ^It is the wisdom of the ages. Men 
have known these things almost ever since the 
world began. Although there have only been a 
few in each generation, yet the world has never, 
at any time, been without some, and their knowl- 
edge and experience have been accumulating with 
the development of mankind in other branches of 
knowledge. At first, those who knew it not 
termed it Sorcery. A century ago, it would have 
been called Witchcraft and Black Magic. A 
generation ago, it would have been called Super- 
stition or Insanity. 

But, today, when Crookes and Roentgen, Tesla, 
Marconi and Edison, those Wizards of modem 
physical science, and Sir Oliver Lodge, Alfred 
Russel Wallace (who for so long wrought with 
Darwin) and coimtless other Masters of Science 
and Metaphysics have shed such floods of light 
upon the wonders of the world, upsetting and 
ttuning pre-conceived notions lopsy tiu-vy, the 
minds of men are more open to consider exactly 
what it is. And, in the light of this advanced 
thought and achievement, the truth may be 
more readily appreciated, that these things are 
matters of scientific demonstration — demonstra- 
tion which has been made a part of the demon- 
strator's actual personal experience.'' Said 



[ 13 ] 



''Why Weepest Thou?'' 



my friend, ' ^I know because I have demonstrated. 
I have seen and heard, touched and tasted and 
smelled the things of the Spiritual World." 

For a while I scanned my friend carefully. His 
language was so strange that I probed his actions 
and his words to see whether he was, or was not, 
insane. But I was convinced he was not insane. 
For a quarter of a century, I had known him to be 
rational, honest and sincere. He responded 
favorably to all the tests which I then made of 
his present sanity; and, at last, the fact that 
these things might possibly be true forced itself 
upon my consciousness. 

One lingering doubt, however, remained, and 
I said to him, * 'But this is rank Spiritualism, is it 
not?'' For, while my knowledge of Spiritualism 
was very limited and indefinite, I did not consider 
it to be an institution of culture, refinement, wis- 
dom, knowledge or reason. I also felt that, if I 
could converse with my wife at all, I wanted to 
talk to her directly and not through some frowsy 
medium. 

''No," said my friend, 'This is not Spirit- 
ualism." The practice of Spiritualism is danger- 
ous and deadly. The mediumistic process and 
its twin brother hypnotism (really one and the 
same process) have done more to fill our insane 
asylums than any other single cause and have 



[ 14] 



''Why Weepest Thou?'' 



also been a very prolific source of downright 
bestial immorality. 

''Where can I find out about this wisdom?'' 
asked I. My friend replied that, while he was in 
no way connected with that School, the clearest, 
most scientific and disinterested exposition of the 
subject could be fotmd in the Text Books of the 
* 'Great School'', so-called, and he especially 
commended to me "The Great Work." 

I at once procured these Texts, read them 
eagerly — devoured them, if you please. I also 
procured and read all the collateral books con- 
nected with the scheme, studied, analyzed, 
criticised, investigated and finally traveled to 
the American headquarters of the School and came 
into personal touch with its leaders. 

I found them to be sane, soimd, sincere people, 
intellectual, cultured, bearing in their appearance 
the marks of sincerity and truth, not faddists nor 
"cranks", neither long-haired nor woolly; and, 
(surest mark of genuineness to me) all suspicion 
of "graft" is absent. Their instruction is abso- 
lutely gratmtous, and they believe and teach that 
he who attemps to use the learning of the School 
for any selfish purpose is unworthy of its rewards 
and forfeits his high estate. 

After more than a year spent in the most care- 
ful and critical study of its Philosophy, I have 
discovered in it nothing which does not inculcate 



[ IS ] 



''Why Weepest Thou?'' 



SL standard of conduct the principles of which are 
recognized by all men to be the purest and loftiest. 

The result of all this has been to confirm me in 
the belief that these wonderful things are true. 
They have shed a flood of light upon much that 
had always, before that, seemed to me strange. 
While not accepting in fiill certain human inter- 
pretations of the Bible and especially of the New 
Testament, it is in no sense opposed to the spirit 
of that wonderful Book and has for me thrown a 
flood of light upon the meaning of certain pas- 
sages therein. 

Best of all, however, it has anchored me, has 
given to my lonely life a definite motive and pur- 
pose. I know now how close my dear wife is to 
me and this wonderfiil science holds out to me the 
hop-e, that, even before the eyes of this physical 
body shall close in death, if I '^Live the Life", 
if I cleanse my Soul and purify my heart, loving 
my neighbor as myself, and doing my best to help 
him bear his load of sorrow in this world, I may, 
in time, ' 'Hope once more to clasp her vanished 
hand in friendship and in love, " to hear the tones 
of her sweet voice and tell her once again of the 
abiding love which is incentive enough for me to 
persevere along the narrow * 'Southward Way" 
which will lead me to her. 

And, my dear friend, because I want you to be 
comforted as I have been comforted, I have 



[ i6 ] 



''Why Weepest Thou?'' 



condensed into a short synopsis some of the au- 
thoritative statements of the definite findings of 
this Ancient School of Wisdom with regard to 
death and the future life. They are not my 
statements; they are quotations from definite 
and competent authority, the reading of which I 
hope will bring peace and comfort and consola- 
tion to your Soul. 

Sincerely, your Friend, 




[ 17 ] 



I. NOT DEAD. 

The First of these Great Truths, a 
Truth which God has planted as an 
Instinct, or Intuition, in the depths 
of every human Soul, which Man- 
kind's great pulsing, throbbing heart 
(despite its mental doubts) has ever 
felt, which every analogy of Nature 
sustains, which Prophets have foretold, 
which the Masters of every aq^e have 
demonstrated, which Twentieth Cen- 
tury Science is fast learning to prove; 
— ^the great fact which takes away 
our fear for them and teaches us that, 
if we grieve, we grieve selfishly — ^for 
ourselves, not for them — ^is the sublime, 
consoling Truth, OUR DEAR ONES 
ARE NOT DEAD. 



The most profound problem of human life and 
the most pathetic cry of the htrnian Soul through- 
out the ages have been the problem and the cry: 
' If a man die shall he live again? " To the great 
majority of mankind in all times and among all 
peoples physical death has been a fearful leap 
into the darkness. The River of Death has been 
the deep and troubled waters of uncertainty and 



[ f8 ] 



Not Dead 



dread with the farther shore enshrouded in 
deepest gloom. The travelers of earth who have 
journeyed down to its shadowy bank that skirts 
the plane of physical life, with rare exceptions 
have vaiWy peered out into the darkness across 
its black surface to catch one assuring glint of 
light from the farther shore. Their sense of 
vision has been lost in the blackness of darkness, 
and they have responded to the signal of the 
dread Ferryman with no ray of hope to guide 
them. — The Great Work, p. 436. 

What man or woman is there above the intelli- 
gence of the poor imbecile who does not desire 
a completely satisfactory answer to the question? 
Many no doubt still take this matter on faith, but 
few are thus satisfied. Few, indeed, who have 
strong ties of affection, and who find the pathway 
of life broken by open graves, are thus easily 
reconciled. — A Study oj Man, p. 229. 

Now and then, however, there has been one 
whose vision has been clear, and to whom the 
other shore of life has been distinctly visible. 
These few have been able to penetrate the dark- 
ness of physical obscurity and behold with perfect 
vision the Spiritual World shining clear and strong 
beyond the dark and troubled waters. 

What a difference this clearer vision has made 
in the attitude of Soul of those who have come 
down to the River of Death at the end of this 



[ 19 ] 



''Why Weepest Thou?'' 



life's journey ! To such as these the voyage across 
the dark waters that stretch between the two 
worlds, or the two continents of life, is but a 
voyage from the dark Continent of Death to the 
Land of Spiritual Life and Light. It is a voyage 
toward the Harbor of Truth and the Haven of 
Peace. It is a voyage from the banks of Time 
to the shore of Eternity. To those who, from this 
side of life, have been able to look across to the 
other shore and see the light of the City of Life, 
the journey is begun with a song of joy in the 
heart and of thanksgiving upon the lips. A 
definite knowledge of that which lies beyond re- 
moves all doubts and all fears. Those who pos- 
sess such knowledge know that the closing of this 
life is but the opening of the doors of the higher 
life. To such as these "Death is swallowed up In 
Victory. '^ 

And those who have had the definite knowledge 
of another life have been able to share their joy 
with many whom they have been able to inspire 
with an abiding Hope of Immortality. The defi- 
nite testimony of the Masters has inspired many 
to walk by faith the hard path of this life, and 
with serenity and confidence journey out into 
the mysterious realms of the, to them. Unknown. 
— The Great Work, pp. 436, 437. 

THERE IS NO DEATH, declares Natural 
Science. In laying down this proposition as a 



[ 20 ] 



Not Dead 



scientific fact it is, of course, understood that the 
reader is probably not in a position to either 
immediately accept or reject this declaration. 
Before attempting to do either, the inquirer is 
asked, first, to consider in brief those lines of 
evidence which go to support the fact of life after 
physical death. The most significant historic 
evidence as to the fact of another life is the per- 
sonal testimony of the few master minds which 
have dominated human intelligence for ages. 
The millions come and gone, together with the 
living hosts of mankind, have acknowledged, and 
continue to acknowledge, these few great teachers 
as messengers of Truth and exemplars of Natural 
Law. 

The great world religions testify to the uni- 
versal faith that has been placed upon the indi- 
vidual honesty and intelligence of such as Gau- 
tama, Prince of India, and our Christian teacher, 
the Nazarene. — Harmonics of Evolution, p, 23. 

What does this faith of the world indicate? 
Does it point to trickery or insanity of those 
teachers? Does it indicate that the world has 
accepted knaves and lunatics as its moral guides? 

So far as history, sacred or profane, informs us, 
the individual lives of those accepted teachers 
were examples of honesty and wisdom. So far 
as the history of their personal lives and their 
accredited doctrines can show, they are the 



[ 21 ] 



''Why Weepest Thou?'' 



worthy guides of humanity. Their lives and 
their doctrines are wholly irreconcilable with any 
theory of either deliberate fraud or emotional 
insanity. 

Each of these '^Masters'' claimed to have 
proved the fact of life after death. Without this 
basic knowledge both their lives and their doc- 
trines become meaningless. 

If there is nc life beyond the grave these 
teachers lied to the world and the world is without 
guidance. — Id. p. 24. 

Those scientists of world-wide reputation for 
skill and learning, Prof. William Crookes, F. R. S., 
and Alfred Russel Wallace, who for years have 
conducted experiments with superphysical phe- 
nomena, set out upon their investigations in a 
skeptical attitude of mind, and entertained the 
belief that the complete exposure and utter rout 
of Spiritualism simply depended upon a few sci- 
entific tests directed by the rational mind of a 
physical scientist. But, after having employed 
every test known to physical science and reason, 
they have satisfied themselves that death does 
not end all — Id, pp. 21,22. 

The expectation of life after physical death 
comes first as an intuition. That purely spiritual 
intuition is as strong in the savage as it is in the 
civilized. — Id, p, 14. 

In spite of the fact that physical life is a veritable 



[ 22 ] 



Not Dead 



house of decay and death, the expectation of, and 
faith in, a life to come have increased with the 
higher evolution of man. 

It is therefore evident that this faith and ex- 
pectation are based in the spiritual intuitions of 
all men. It is also evident that such faith and 
such expectation are not the mere superstition of 
savages since they increase with the higher stages 
of intelligence and moral life of man. — Id, p. 15. 
It is as natural to desire life after physical 
death, to hope for it, to seek knowledge of it, as 
it is to desire food, light and air. It is an un- 
furtunate man who does not hope for life to come. 
It is a diseased or abnormal one who does not 
desire it. A man without hope or desire merely 
exists. He can scarcely be said to live. 

He who gives heed to his own spiritual intu- 
itions is never without hope. He who has hope 
may acquire faith. He who has both hope and 
faith may acquire actual knowledge, provided 
he have the INTELLIGENCE, the COURAGE 
and the PERSEVERANCE to prove the law. 
— Id, p, 14. 

Love of life inspires every living thing. It is, 
however, man alone who hopes for immortality. 
It is safe to say that all men desire to live after 
physical death. Most of them hope for such a 
life. Many have faith. There are, however, 
more whose hope and whose faith alternate with 



[ 23 ] 



''Why Weepest Thouf' 



misgiving and doubt. For hope is not faith, nor 
is faith knowledge, yet both are inspirations to 
life. Hope is but a fleeting intuition, while faith 
is the steady expectation of the soul. 

Hope for and expectation of life beyond physical 
death appear to be almost inseparable from human 
intelligence. In this desire and expectation the 
savage, the seer, and the child find a common 
ground. — Id. p. 13. 

This tremendous truth has for ages been in the 
possession of a few patient, self-denying scholars 
whose knowledge of the continuity of life has been 
a matter of daily, rational experience, just as is 
their knowledge of this physical existence. — Id. p. 
12. 

Dtiring all the past ages of which we have 
authentic information there have been men who 
have wrought out the solution of the problem of 
another life through a definite personal experience 
and thereby reduced the great problem to the 
basis of actual demonstration. 

Those who have accomplished this triimiphant 
result have at all times been exceptions to the 
general rule among men, and for this reason 
their numbers have at all times been compara- 
tively insignificant. But nature has so provided 
that there has never been a time, within the 
period of authentic history, when the world has 
been without those who could speak of that life 



1 24 ] 



Not Dead 



with definite authority, the result of personal 
experience and personal demonstration. — The 
Great Work, p. 425. 

Who can estimate the benefit that would flow 
from the exchange of mere faith in a life to come 
for actual knowledge that such is the fact? — Har- 
monics oj Evolution^ p. 19. 

If the individual could really know that life 
after death is a fact, our whole dismal para- 
phernalia of death would disappear. Indeed, if 
men entertained even an unwavering faith, their 
lament for the dead would be modified. The 
truth is that the professing Christian mourner 
exhibits but little greater fortitude and faith 
when death claims a friend than does the average 
unbeliever. Oiu: Christian brothers mourn their 
dead with an abandon that demonstrates the 
instability of their faith. — Id,, p. 19. 

If one really believes in a spiritual life to come 
there is neither reason nor excuse for this in- 
temperate grief. If, however, a man could know 
what he but mournfully hopes rather than be- 
lieves, the house of the dead would never be a 
house of despair. Instead, it would be a house 
of unselfish rejoicing whenever death released 
the spirit from old age, disease or sorrow. When 
a man knows what physical death is he will never 
retard the passing soul with selfish grief. — /J., 
p. 20. 

[ 25 1 



''Why Weepest Thou?'' 



Especially selfish is this grief in view of its 
harmfiil effects upon the dead themselves. * The 
grief of an earthly husband for his spiritual wife, 
or that of an earthly mother for her spiritual 
chil d binds the one in spiritual life to the plane of 
earth by a magnetic bond which few in that life 
are able to overcome. The bond of sympathy for 
sorrow is one of the strongest ties of the Soul.'' 
— Life and Action, 11-279,280. 

Did v/omen possess the faith they claim, they 
would not swathe themselves in unsanitary 
crape nor visit cemeteries to commune with the 
dead who are not there. — Harmonics of Evolution, 
p. 19. 

To the man who knows, the dead body is but 
the discarded mantle of his friend, one that had 
served the uses of the soul for the time. As 
such, the body is entitled to due reverence and 
is consigned to the earth or the fire without 
exaggerated grief. — Id, pp. 19, 20. 

It would be as correct to say that we die into this 
world and are bom out of it, as to say that we 
are bom into it and die out of it. Our mistake 
of the meaning of life includes a mistaken idea 
regarding both birth and death and this mistake 
is shown in the fact that we have allowed fear 
and foreboding of evil to gather around the exit, 
which is painless and beneficent as a babe's sleep, 
and have come with rejoicings to welcome the 



[ 26 ] 



The connection between us and our dear 
ones in the spiritual world is so close that, under 
ordinary conditions, they are conscious of what 
we do, and especially, of our grief for them. 
Life and Action VI, p. 20j. (Bottom.) 

Our grief for them affects them unpleas- 
antly or painfully in precisely the same way we 
are painfully or unpleasantly affected by the grief 
of one of our loved ones on this side of life. In 
addition to this, there are certain magnetic 
attractions between us here and our loved ones 
therej which may, under certain conditions, bind 
the spiritual loved ones to earthly conditions in 
a way to interfere with their liberty of individual 
progress in that life. 

Life and Action VI, p. 206. (Top.) 



Not Dead 



entrance, which is often an inferno to both 
mother and child. — A Study of Man, p. 235. 

At this point a broader science conies forward, 
with its cheering '1 know/' and rationally ex- 
plains the ground of its affirmation. It does 
more than this. It directly challenges repre- 
sentatives of theology, metaphysics and modem 
physical science to offer themselves as students 
and demonstrators of the fact of life after physical 
death. — Harmonics of Evolution, p. 22. 

Natural Science has at command the facts of 
Nature which support the real doctrines of Christ, 
which dispel the vagaries of metaphysics, and 
will aid in the extension of scientific knowledge 
and research. 

Its pursuit is something more than a study of 
ancient creeds and Oriental Philosophy. It is 
the study and demonstration of those natural 
laws which govern the body, spirit and soul of the 
individual man. — Id. p. 23. 



[ 27 ] 



2. THIS PROVABLE 

The next Great Truth which should 
cheer and sustain us, which assures 
us that our Faith may blend into 
Sight, our Hope end in Fruition and 
our Ejiowledge crown the whole, the 
Great Truth which gilds our dark 
horizon with the golden light of Hope 
and spans life's dark gloom with the 
crimson Bow of Promise, is that the 
fact that our dear ones still live is 



SCIENTIFICALLY DEMONSTRABLE 

From the beginning human intelligence has 
occupied itself with speculations, hopes and fears 
as to a life beyond. The finest intelligences 
among men have employed their powers to merely 
elucidate a resonable theory looking to life after 
physical death. — Harmonics of Evolution j p- i6 

Mankind, as a whole, in its expectation of a 
future life, is sustained by faith and not by any 
actual scientific knowledge of the life to come. 
— Id. p. 17. 

Intuitions of a spiritual life are not proofs even 
to the rational mind of any individual. They 

[ 28 ] 



This Provable 



are, however, truths to his soul and are sources 
of consolation, of hope and of inspiration. 

Intuition is not knowledge. It is, instead, a 
suggestion of knowledge that may be acquired. 
Every man and woman knows the potency and 
inspiration of those spiritual perceptions which 
are not explainable in reason. Intuition, though 
not knowledge, is a higher guide to human life 
than is cold reason when it entirely ignores those 
convictions of the Soul. — Id. p. i8. 

Man is a rational as well as an intuitional 
being. Man alone is capable of reasoning upon 
his own intuitions. Man alone has the intelli- 
gence to seek a rational explanation of those in- 
tuitions. Man alone demands that Nature shall 
yield the secrets of those mysterious. hopes, fears 
and expectations which alternately inspire or 
terrify the Soul. The spiritual intuition of the 
savage establishes an expectation of life after 
physical death. Later on the higher grade man 
attempts to verify his own inttdtions by rational 
means. — Id, p. 15. 

Both reason and intuition are differing phe- 
nomena representing separate functions of in- 
telligence. The more comprehensive Science 
demonstrates that there is a spiritual side to 
Nature and that man lives on self-consciously 
after physical death. 

Natural Science, and the philosophy of life 



[ 29 ] 



''Why Weepest Thou?'' 



fotinded on that science, accept Christ as an 
exemplar of truth. It regards Him as one among 
the greatest of Masters who have proved the fact 
of life after physical death by scientific and 
natural means. — Id. p. 25 (4, 5). 

The claims made by Natural Science are sup- 
ported by two lines of evidence, the one direct, 
the other indirect. 

The first class of evidence includes the direct 
personal testimony of such as have proved the 
law, or of such as have come in contact by any 
means with the spiritual plane of life. The 
second class includes the testimony of such as 
have witnessed spiritual phenomena under test 
conditions. Under the first-named class we 
have: 

1. The direct testimony of the world's 
chosen teachers, among whom are Moses, Bud- 
dha, and Jesus Christ. 

2. The direct testimony of the personally 
instructed pupils of a Master. Among such were 
the Disciples of Christ. 

3. The direct testimony of so-called seers 
and prophets and the oracles of all ages, races 
and religions. Among such are Abraham, Daniel 
Isaiah, and Jeremiah. 

4. The direct testimony of vast nimibers of 
* 'psychics'' covering the history of all ages, such 

[ 30 ] 



This Provable 



persons being the hypnotized subjects of stronger 
disembodied intelligences. 

5. The recorded testimony of the members 
of all the ancient schools of spiritual knowledge. 

6. The direct personal testimony of their 
living members. 

7. The direct personal testimony of count- 
less living psychics, or spiritual mediums, many 
of whom hold daily communication with physi- 
cally disembodied persons. 

8. Many of the priesthood of the Catholic 
Church could testify to the conscious and intel- 
ligent communication between men in the body 
and men out of the body. This, in fact, is the 
secret of the power of the Catholic Chtirch. 

9. Countless monks and nvms of the same 
Church could testify to the same facts. The 
seclusion and austerities of the monastery and 
the convent originally had this object in view. 
The Roman Catholic Church preserves its direct 
touch with the spiritual side of life through its 
truly celibate priests, monks and nuns. 

ID. To this could be added the direct testi- 
mony of coimtless living Oriental yogis, fakirs and 
dervishes who acquire spiritual insight and 
spiritual powers through barbarous physical self- 
torture and physical self -suppression. 

II. The direct testimony of countless Oriental 
priests and Oriental philosophers and students. 



[ 31 ] 



Why Weepest Thou?'' 



Such testimony is found especially in India, 
where climatic conditions, and native tempera- 
ment and dietary habits foster the spiritual 
development of man. 

12. Lastly, the personal testimony of certain 
Students of the Great School, who are neither 
Masters, seers, nor prophets, nor yet spiritual 
mediimis; the knowledge thus gained of a spirit- 
ual plane having resulted from a certain degree 
of experiment and demonstration under the 
formula for self-development. 

This brings us to the second class, or to indirect 
evidence of life after physical death. Under this 
head we have: 

1. The great world religions which are the 
responsive bodies of faith supporting the declara- 
tions of a few great Masters of the Law. Almost 
the whole of mankind subscribes to one or the 
other of these religions. 

2. The testimony of the individual intuitions. 
Every normal individual, risen to the plane of 
intelligent life, enjoys intuitions and experiences 
which, at times, suggest another plane of life. 
Such intuitions and experiences cannot be con- 
verted into rational proof. The individual con- 
cerned, however, knows them to be facts. He 
recognizes a silent, subtle, interior guide and 
critic that he names Conscience. He finds that 
this Conscience speaks through the intuitions 



[ 32 ] 



This Provable 



alone, and that it is a thing independent of 
reason. — Harmonics of Evolution^ pp. 26, 27. 

When the intelligent soul of man exercises it- 
self upon the physical plane, man enjoys a rational 
conception of physical things. When it exercises 
itself upon the spiritual plane, the physically 
embodied man enjoys spiritual intmtions of 
spiritual things. How often that inward moni- 
tor declares ^^ There is no death. '^ How often 
the rational mind denies this intuition of the soul, 
one who has been a skeptic can testify. 

3. The spiritual intuitions of man declare 
''There is no death^\ The soul of man rejects 
the idea of annihilation. Instead, it universally 
entertains faith or a hope in a life to come. This 
expectation of continued life characterizes the 
savage, the seer and the savant. Because these 
intuitions of man are so imiversal they are there- 
fore nattu-al. Natural impulses imply a natural 
law of fulfillment. A universal desire implies 
a natural means of accomplishment. Universal 
tendencies are always based upon adequate 
principles. 

4. The indirect evidence presented by thousands 
who have witnessed the phenomena of the seance 
room or have come in contact with psychics under 
other circumstances. It is xmreasonable to hold 
that these large and intelligent classes of persons 
are either entirely deceived or are deliberately 



[ 33 ] 



''Why Weepest Thou?'' 



deceiving others as to what they have witnessed. 

5. Perhaps the strongest indirect evidence in 
this line is that which has been furnished by cer- 
tain eminent representatives of physical science. 
Especially does the recently published work of 
Mr. Alfred Russel Wallace deserve attention 
and demand respect. This is not a hastily written 
opinion. It is not merely the result of a few 
desultory observations in the seance room. It is 
a carefully prepared summary of scientific tests 
and investigations of Modem Spiritualism cov- 
ering a period of fifty-three years. 

After more than half a century spent in the 
critical study of Spiritualism, one of the greatest 
intelligences of the modem school of physical 
science declares such phenomena to be the direct 
result of super-physical (spiritual) laws and of 
physically disembodied intelligences. 

Thus it is that six centuries of the method? of 
physical science have not equipped it to disprove 
the claims of Modem Spiritualism alone. It 
leaves one of its foremost representatives to 
declare for the truth of those claims. 

In short, it leaves the collaborator of Charles 
Darwin to reaffirm what was declared ages ago 
by Buddha and later by our own acknowledged 
Master, Christ, viz.: THERE IS NO DEATH. 
— Harmonics oj Evolution, pp. 28, 29. 



[ 34 ] 



3. DEMONSTRATION 

Strong statements are quoted herein, 
statements which no one could be 
blamed for doubting; for they reverse 
the current of the lifelong modes of 
thought of most of us. Of the truth 
of these statements those to whom 
they are addressed have the right to 
demand proof. The quotations herein 
made are from a comprehensive state- 
ment which recognizes this right to 
proof and meets it fully and fairly, 
providing for the obtaining of proof of 
the kind which the Master of men 
gave when he furnished the skeptical 
Thomas the palpable proof that he 
was, indeed, the Crucified Christ. 



Throughout the Text Books appear statements 
that the data of the Great School are ' 'scientific 
data''; that they are the results of '^scientific 
demonstration"; that Natural Science is an 
''exact science"; that it constitutes the natural 
bridge of "science" between the two worlds of 
matter, life and intelligence, etc. 

[ 35 ] 



''Why Weepest Thou?'' 



In Vol. II, at page 107, the simple and un- 
qualified statement is made, and without apologies, 
that * 'Natural Science has demonstrated with 
absolute certainty the continuity of life after 
physical death.'' — The Great Work, p. 95. 

By ^'demonstration", in this connection, the 
School of Natural Science means actual personal 
experience, so checked and guarded that there 
can be no opportunity for self-deception or im- 
position. 

It holds that wherever a ' 'personal experience'' 
is possible nothing short of this will be accepted 
by it as a "scientific demonstration". All data 
which cannot be reduced in their final analysis 
to a basis cf "personal experience" are held by 
it as qualified, and subject to further and more 
complete verification. — The Great Work, p. 99. 

There is only one process, or one method, 
whereby the physical scientist will ever come to 
know with "scientific" certainty that there is a 
spiritual world and a life beyond physical death. 
There is but one way by which he will ever make 
the ^ 'scientific demonstration ". That is by ' 'the 
development within himself of a higher power of 
perception.'^ He must admit this new ele- 
ment into the problem. By this method and this 
alone he may be able to reduce the ' 'demonstra- 
tion" to the basis of a "personal experience." 
Then and then only will he know. But even then 



[ 36 ] 



Demonstration 



he will not be able to ^^demonstrate" his knowl- 
edge to any other member of his profession by- 
physical means nor on the plane of physical 
nature. The most that he could do would be to 
point out the way whereby he proceeded to 
^'develop within himself the higher power of 
perception" which brought the spiritual universe 
of matter and material things within the limita- 
tions of his own sensibilities. This is as far as he 
could go. His fellow scientists would have the 
rest to do if they would verify the ^'demonstra- 
tion" and make it their own. — The Great Worky 
pp. 104, 105. 

Nothing but the internal consciousness of a 
definite personal experience will ever be accepted 
by the Intelligent Soul as proof positive of a 
Spiritual World or of Individual Life after 
physical death. — The Great Work, p. 429. 

One who possesses the independent power of 
spiritual vision may witness with perfect dis- 
tinctness and absolute certainty the separation 
of the two bodies at the moment of physical death. 

With his physical eyes he may see the dead 
physical form and with his spiritual vision he 
mi.ay see the live and actual spiritual body — a 
perfect duplicate of the physical, except that the 
one is dead and the other alive. — The Great 
Psychological Crime, p, 292. 

In accordance with this view, the School goes 



[ 3V 1 



''Why Weepest Thou?'' 



further and asserts that in conformity with a 
definite and scientific formula for an independent 
development of the spiritual senses and psychic 
powers of a physically embodied individual, each 
full Member of the Great School has made the 
* 'scientific demonstration'* through a * 'personal 
experience.'' As a result, he is able at will to 
''sense" a plane of material conditions and 
material things of a degree of refinement and 
activity wholly above and beyond all that is 
known as physical. For want of a better and 
more appropriate name, they have chosen to 
designate this world of finer material as the 
''spiritual" world, or the world of "spiritual 
material." In it they see and recognize and 
communicate at will with those who have passed 
into that realm, through liberation from physical 
matter and physical limitations, in the transition 
we call physical death. — The Great Work, p. loo. 



[ 38 ] 



. SIMILARITY OF LIFE HERE 
AND THERE 

The next Truth, which must come 
as a healing balm to the wounded 
spirits of those of us who have 
loved, lost and mourned for them, 
is that they are in no strange land; 
they are in no terror of wonder and 
fright; their Souls have not been 
rudely torn up and roughly trans- 
planted into a foreign, hostile soil. 
Their new life is only an extension of 
this. 



THEIR LIFE HERE AND THERE HAS A 

COMMON DEVELOPMENT AND A 

COMMON PURPOSE 

Scientific demonstration has repeatedly shown 
that, when our dear ones enter the spiritual 
world, they find analogies to physical life every- 
where although they find no conditions that are 
exactly identical with earthly life. 

They find a world of superior material refine- 
ment, whose vibratory activities respond to the 
spiritual senses only. This new world appears 
to be wholly independent of the old. There is 



I 39 1 



''Why Weepest Thouf' 



nothing in it that would impress the physical 
senses. That which they see is difficult to com- 
prehend or describe. They are simply dazzled, 
delighted, bewildered. All efforts to translate 
that experience to man in the body are neces- 
sarily inadequate. That statement is literally 
true which declares, ' ^It hath not entered into the 
heart of ma.an to conceive '' what this higher world 
means, either as to its appearance, its intelligence 
or its activities. 

The first great fact that forces itself upon the 
intelligence is the universality of matter. The 
spiritual world is as truly material as our own. 
It is simply a world of matter finer in particle and 
more rapid in vibratory action than our physical 
world. The spiritual world is just as real and 
tangible and visible to a spiritual man as is the 
physical world to the physical man. — Harmonics 
of Evolution, p. 59. 

Finite intelligence has never yet succeeded 
in passing the limitations of matter. As far as 
science has penetrated (thus far) it finds both 
matter and intelligence everywhere manifesting 
itself as the positive force in Nature acting upon 
matter. It finds everywhere matter as the 
negative property of Nature being acted upon 
by intelligence. 

They prove also the truth of that statement 
of St. Paid which has been the subject of con- 



[ 40 ] 



Life Here and There 



troversy for nearly nineteen hundred years. 
They prove that there is a ' 'Natural'' or physical 
body and that there is also a ^'Spiritual body.'' 
They find that this spiritual body is but a finer 
representation of the physical organisms they 
have quitted. 

Whether the ego, or intelligent soul, ever dis- 
cards this spiritual body is a question not ger- 
main to this present writing. It is a question, 
however, that is much debated in spiritual life. 

This spiritual world has locality. It encircles 
this planet like a vast girdle. How far outward 
and upward it extends is a question not involved 
in this discussion. In appearance that world is 
analogous to this. That is to say, it has a 
similar distribution of land and water. There 
are oceans and continents. There are moun- 
tains, valleys and plains. There are forests, 
lakes and rivers. The same activity in the 
material world exists there as here. There is 
movement of all waters. There are magnetic 
changes of matter. There is growth in vege- 
tation. — Harmonics of Evolution^ p, 60. 

That world is inhabited just as this world is, 
by intelligent beings capable of moral improve- 
ment. They are real people; in fact, the same 
people who have previously lived here. They 
are simply spiritually embodied intelligences 
instead of physically embodied individuals. They 



[ 41 ] 



"Why Weepest Thouf" 



preserve their identity as certain individuals from 
this plane. They continue to follow in the same 
general lines of intellectual and moral activity 
which engaged them in this world. 

The spiritual plane is divided into many planes 
or spheres of life and action. The divisions are 
local as well as intellectual, social and moral. 
Scientifically speaking, the spiritual material of 
this higher plane is subject to the law of polarity 
or vibration. By reason of this law its several 
zones or spheres are regulated by what is known 
as the spiritual law of gravitation. The coarser 
material moving at lower rates of vibration very 
naturally constitutes the immediate stratum 
encircling the coarse physical earth. By the same 
law of spiritual gravitation the remote regions of 
the spiritual world are those whose material 
substance is finest and whose vibratory action 
is highest. 

The physically released inhabitants of the 
spiritual plane occupy the several zones or belts 
composing the spiritual world. They find their 
spiritual homes in one or another of those strata 
representing lower or higher states of refinement 
and vibratory action. They select as their 
homes that particular sphere or locality to which 
their own vibratory condition impels them. This 
means that spiritually embodied men differ in 
degree of material refinement and vibratory 



[ 42 ] 



Life Here and There 



action just as do men in the physical body. It 
means that spiritual people, like earthly people, 
seek those localities and that social environment 
which correspond to their own stages of develop- 
ment. 

The spiritual law of polarity or vibration is 
again illustrated by the separation of spiritual 
beings into many social castes. — Id. p, 61. 

For example, the spiritual plane immediately 
surrounding this earth consists of the least re- 
fined spiritual material moving at the lowest 
rates of vibration. Hence that zone is the 
negative state of spiritual material. It therefore 
does not reflect light. It appears (to spiritual 
vision) darker than those localities above and 
beyond. Mere liberation from the physical body 
does not in the least change man in his essential 
nature. It does not mean an instantaneous 
absorption of universal knowledge. It does not 
eflEect a sudden revolution in the moral nature. 
—Id. p. 62. 

Men, women and children upon the spiritual 
planes of life appear to possess all the natural 
faculties and intelligent capacities and powers 
with which they were invested at and prior to the 
time of physical dissolution. — The Great Psycho- 
logical Crime J p. 145 (5). 

In fact, the change called death leaves a man 
very little wiser and morally no better than he 



[ 43 ] 



Why Weepest Thouf' 



was immediately before. He finds himself some- 
what in the same position of an ignorant American 
who has been suddenly transported to the center 
of some European civilization. Certain ad- 
ditional facts of Nature are literally thrust upon 
him. He cannot, however, obtain any definite 
information as to the nature of those facts without 
study and investigation. — Harmonics oj Evolu- 
tion, p, 62. 

Indeed, so like at times is the spiritual world to 
the physical that, frequently, those who have just 
entered it find it difficult to realize that they have 
'^died^\ that they are spirits instead of human 
beings. — The Great Psychological Crime, p. 241 (3). 
His own limitations, spiritual, mental and moral, 
curtail his comprehension and enjoyment of 
that which confronts him, just as ignorance 
curtails a man's enjoymient in this world. He 
finds in the spiritual world, as in the physical, 
that a man enlarges his store of knowledge and 
capacity for enjoyment through the slow processes 
of education and self -development. If ignorant 
and vicious when released by physical death, such 
a man will follow the same impulses and passions 
which governed him in earthly life. He neither 
appreciates nor seeks that which is refined, intel- 
ligent and noble. Instead, he seeks that which is 
in natural or vibratory sympathy with himself. 
The physically disembodied man discovers that 



( 44 ] 



Life Here and There 



it is his own acts, thoughts and motives, which 
have conditioned his spiritual body to one or 
another of the spiritual zones or localities. If 
his earth life has been intelHgent, chaste and 
purposeful he finds himself attuned to the higher 
planes and the higher circles of spiritual life. 
Under such conditions he passes outward from 
the earth plane by the law of spiritual gravity and 
dwells in that sphere and among such people as 
are harmonious to himself. If, on the contrary, 
his life has been vicious, ignorant, criminal and 
impure he finds that the ''spirit'' has been 
coarsened by that previous life in the body. He 
finds, therefore, that he is in touch with only 
the lower stratum of spiritual material and 
spiritual society. — Harmonics of Evolution, p. 62. 

Under these conditions the spiritual body can- 
not rise. It remains in the negative regions of 
spiritual existence. It is therefore an integral 
part and natural representative of negation or 
darkness. It cannot rise to the light. It appears, 
therefore, as darkness to itself and to others. 

By reason of this natural law and this actual 
condition in the spiritual world have arisen those 
well-known but mysterious allusions to ''earth- 
bound spirits," to "angels of darkness," to "re- 
gions of darkness," to the "outer darkness" and 
to the "darkness of ignorance." 

In this physical world darkness and evil and 



[ 45 ] 



''Why Weepest Thou?'' 



ignorance are linked rather in a figurative sense. 
In the spiritual world they are linked in a literal 
as well as in a figurative and ethical sense. 

What we term the law of spiritual gravity is, 
in fact, that universal spiritual principle of 
polarity which governs evolution upon both 
planes of matter. This is the principle which 
underlies all of the propositions of Natural 
Science. It is the principle of spiritual affinity 
or polarity which, reduced to a general propo- 
sition, is as follows: — 

'^ There is a principle in Nature which impels 
every entity to seek vibratory correspondence with 
another like entity of opposite polarity, '' 

Under this universal principle the spiritual 
world divides itself into many material and social 
regions. By the same principle spiritual beings 
seek that zone or locality whose material refine- 
ment and social development correspond to them- 
selves. It follows, therefore, that the wise and 
the ignorant, the good and the evil, the active 
and the idle, group themselves in the order of 
their affinities. — Id. p. 63. 

This principle of Nature continually tends to 
bring together all things of the same degree of 
refinement and vibratory activity. — Id, p. 64. 

Under the Constructive Principle and process of 
evolution, growth, development and progress, 
man disappears from the lowest plane of spiritual 



[ 46 ] 



Life Here and There 



life, only to appear upon the next higher, inhabit- 
ing a finer spiritual organism, clothed in richer 
splendor, and in possession of all the natural 
faculties and intelligent capacities and powers 
with which he was invested at the time of the 
transition and with the same individuality. He 
is fully conscious of the transition and is able at 
will to appear upon the lower plane through which 
he has passed, and manifest himself to those who 
have known him there. In an analogous manner 
he is able to pass on to higher planes of spirituality 
and life. — The Great Psychological Crime, p. 145. 

This same principle of polarity operates in 
htiman society upon the physical plane. While 
caste in this world appears to depend almost 
wholly upon external advantages and physical 
conditions, this is not the fact. In reality all 
human organizations and social integrations are 
dominated by the spiritual sympathies rather 
than the physical conditions, professions or ad- 
vantages. A conamon expression in our own 
society illustrates this principle. We hear it 
said that a certain person is *'out of his sphere," 
meaning that the individual is not mentally or 
morally equipped for fellowship in a certain circle. 

There is one radical difference between the 
physical and spiritual worlds in this respect. On 
the physical plane we only know by intuition 
when a person is spiritually out of touch with his 



[ 47 ] 



Why Weepest Thou?'' 



social environment. In the spiritual world, 
however, the law of vibration sets its ineffaceable 
sign upon every man. That is to say, one who 
remains in the lower stratum of the spiritual world 
is himself in that negative state which causes 
him to appear dark. On the contrary, he who 
rises by reason of his own refinement vibrates at 
a higher tension. He is in a positive state of 
activity which may appear first as color and next 
as light. 

^^Heir' and ' 'darkness," therefore, are not 
mere figures of speech. The word ' 'heaven" 
has a literal significance. Darkness is both 
locality and condition, as well as appearance. 
Light is both locality and condition, as well as 
appearance. 

Every individual, whether physically or spirit- 
ually embodied, throws off spiritual magnetism. 
During earthly life those magnetic waves are 
invisible to the physical eye. 

In spiritual life, however, they are distinctly 
visible to the spiritual eye. The spiritual man 
appears to his fellow men as veiled in darkness, or 
he gives off magnetic waves so rapid in vibratory 
action as to produce the effect of either color or 
light to the spiritual eye. Thus a spiritual man 
appears in an aura of darkness, or of color, or of 
light, according to his degree of development, 
viz., according to the degree of his material 

[ 48 ] 



Life Here and There 



refinement, vibratory action and magnetic power. 
— Harmonics oj Evolution, p, 64. 

Persons familiar with the seance room will 
recall how frequently a clairvoyant meditim will 
refer to the ^^aura" of certain visitors. At one 
time the medium may allude to a physically 
embodied visitor, at another time to a spiritual 
visitor. In both cases the medium sees spirit- 
ually those waves of spiritual magnetism thrown 
off b}^ the person in the physical body or out of 
it, as the case may be. 

In this we find explanation of the ^^halo^' or 
the shining cloud surrounding ^ 'angels" that have 
for all ages been written about or reported by 
mediimas or pictured by artists. The finer the 
spiritual condition the more brilliant and mag- 
netic becomes this aura. — Id, ^.65. 

It is only in the higher life that all relations are 
natviral, where the unclothed spirit must seek its 
true affinities. In this fair country, where 
thought is one with action, and where desire is 
flight, no two souls are linked together that would 
be free. — Dream Child, p, 179 (i). 

Saul of Tarsus was prostrated by what he could 
only describe as a great light. There was a very 
excellent reason why Moses' spiritual visitors were 
concealed by a cloud from the uninstructed 
Israelites. The effect of sudden contact between 
a highly developed spiritual being and a physi- 

[ 49 1 



''Why Weepest Thou?'' 



cally embodied man wholly unprepared for such 
contact is a dangerous encounter for the earthly 
man. It would be as fatal as the live electric 
wire. 

Thus the law of vibration governs the material 
conditions of the spiritual world. It is a natural 
law that assigns man to darkness or envelopes 
him in light in accordance with his own essential 
nature. 

It must be imderstood, however, that it is the 
intelligent soul itself which controls the vibratory 
action of both bodies, physical and spiritual. 
The vibratory action of the spiritual body is, 
in fact, but the reflex action of the soul itself. 
It is, therefore, the soul or the ego which is 
coarse or fine, weak or forceful, dull or active. 
To be dull and heavy of soul is to be coarse in 
material texture, slow in vibratory action, nega- 
tive in condition, dark in appearance. To be 
active of soul or intelligence is to be fine in ma- 
terial particle, rapid in vibratory action, positive 
in condition and Itiminous in appearance. 
— Harmonics oj Evolution, p. 65. 

Thus, after all, it is the soul which drags the 
body down. It is the activity or inactivity of 
the intelligent soul which determines the local 
habitation of the spiritual body and thus its own 
social environment. 

Caste in the spiritual world means more than 



[ so ] 



Life Here and There 



it does here. People there are not so often found 
out of place. In a literal sense, men show their 
* 'true colors ' ' in the spiritual world. The natural 
spiritual law leaves the individual little oppor- 
tunity for simulation. He appears as he is, 
stupid or active, dull or intelligent, evil or good. 
He appears selfish or cowardly, noble or exalted, 
just as he is in fact. He is clothed in darkness or 
light according to his own self-made conditions. 
In short, he is '^known" in the spiritual world. 

At the hour of physical death the released ego, 
invested with its ethereal body, may rise rapidly 
from the earth or it may cling indefinitely to its 
former earthly haunts. It may condition itself 
to the coarser and darker regions close to the 
physical plane, or it may be able to rise rapidly to 
those finer, lighter and more positive regions lying 
far from the physical world. It is the soul of 
man which holds his spirit earth-bound, or impels 
it to higher planes when once released from the 
physical body. 

Except a man knows this law he can form but 
the faintest conception of earth's immediate 
spiritual surroundings. It is only the student 
who realizes that humanity as a whole is in closest 
touch with the lowest strattmi of spiritual life and 
intelligence. He perceives that mankind is 
assailed by evil spiritual influences more fre- 
quently than he is approached by the higher and 



[ SI ] 



Why Weepest Thouf' 



better influences. The too often demoralizing 
results of the seance room are particularly due to 
the easy approach of vicious disembodied intel- 
Hgences — Id. p. 66. 

It must be understood, however, that the 
physically disembodied man is not permanently 
bound to any one locality nor to any particular 
social environment. Nothing but his own con- 
dition binds him either to place or to people. 
When that condition changes he releases himself. 
In that life, as in this, the individual is the arbiter 
of his own destiny. He rises or sinks by and 
through his own efforts or his own failures. 

In that world, as in this, love of knowledge, 
together with the courage to do and the strength 
to persevere, will gradually raise a man from a 
lower to a higher plane of existence. 

The spiritual man overcomes unhappy spiritual 
conditibns through educational processes. As a 
result his spiritual body becomes finer in particle 
with increased vibratory action. He is thus 
changed from the coarse, negative and dark state 
of being to the fine, positive and luminous state. 

Thus there is a basis for our popular belief in 
halo-enveloped angels who go down into the dark 
places and among the fallen. 

In the spiritual world there is an increase of 
purely intellectual activity as well as of philan- 
thropic effort. Released from the exactions im- 



[ 52 ] 



Life Here and There 



posed by the physical functions of life man finds 
leisure for the intellectual pursuits he may have 
been denied here. Release from physical life 
means increase of time and opportunity for higher 
work. When the strain of this planetary life is 
over, the intelligent soul is free to follow its highest 
aspirations. 

The scholar, statesman, artist, and poet, as well 
as the philanthropist, is now free to move forward 
in his chosen lines. In that world, as in this, 
there are facts to be learned. There are people 
to govern. There are beauty and love to be 
translated. There is music to be written and 
there are songs to be simg. There are romances 
to be lived. There is work to do. 

In short, the higher life furnishes opportunity 
and means which most of us vainly seek here. 

In another respect that life is analogous to our 
own. The same differences of opinion and in- 
tellectual controversy exist there as here. It is 
true that men no longer dispute as to the fact 
of life after physical death. It is true that they 
no longer regard the spirit world as a supernatural 
world. There is, however, no abatement of 
discussion and dispute and speculation over other 
facts in Nature. Men there, as here, debate the 
ultimate issues of existence. They speculate 
upon the immortality of the soul, the nature and 

[ S3 ] 



''Why Weepest Thou?'' 



character of God, and the probabilities of rebirth 
upon this planet — Id. pp, 66, 67. 

In yet another respect these two worlds are 
analogous. The inhabitants of the spiritual 
world are men and women. The sex division is 
as distinct on that side of life as on this. More 
than this, upon that plane as upon this, man is 
the intellectual master. He is the organizer and 
ruler of spiritual mankind. On the other hand, 
woman is there, as she is here, his companion, co- 
worker and mate. In that world, as in this, man 
is the aggressive factor, while woman is the pacific 
factor, typifying the spirit of love. Though man 
continues to dominate the larger public life, the 
influence of woman continues to penetrate and 
ennoble the entire social organism. 

Men and women continue to occupy the same 
relative position in that life as in this. In spirit- 
ual life, as in this life, man particularly represents 
law, order and knowledge, while woman par- 
ticularly represents peace, love and all the 
aesthetic and ethical activities. 

In spiritual life, men and women continue the 
individual love relation. Between men and 
women on the spiritual side exists the same irre- 
sistible attraction which leads them into indi- 
vidual love relations. 

This individual love relation must not be under- 
stood to mean merely an impersonal and altruistic 



[ 54 ] 



Life Here and There 



friendship. It means instead, a personal and 
exclusive love and partnership based upon the 
spiritual law of affinity. This relation, therefore, 
is a more permanent one than the average mar- 
riage here. The union of a spiritual man and 
woman is unlike marriage upon the physical plane 
in that it lacks the physical functions, passions 
and sympathies growing out of the purely physical 
nature and physical conditions. Instead, it is a 
much closer bond based upon the spiritual prin- 
ciple of affinity. It is a union based, not upon 
physical passion, but wholly upon spiritual, in- 
tellectual, aesthetic and ethical S3mipathies. 
—Id. p. 68. 

In short, sex is an immutable spiritual principle. 
The bond between men and women outlasts all 
earthly and physical ties and relationships. The 
mutual love of man and woman transcends the 
physical functions and passions. It includes all 
that which goes to make up the higher man and 
woman. On earth we cherish an ideal of true 
marriage. That ideal contemplates not only the 
physical relation but a perfect sympathy in the 
higher intellectual and moral nature. How sel- 
dom that ideal is realized, let each one judge from 
observation and from his or her personal matri- 
monial experiences. 

These facts concerning sex in spiritual life are 
proof that it is a fundamental principle in Nature, 

[ 55 ] 



''Why Weepest Thou?'' 



and that the spiritual destinies of man and woman 
are correlated to each other. They are proof 
that the sex office transcends the mere physical 
functions of generation and reproduction. They 
are proof that the uses and purposes of sex are 
not exhausted in physical life. Instead, on the 
best authority of Natural Science it is declared 
that this question of sex is boimd up in the 
highest development of intelligent moral beings. 
— Id. p. 69. 

A scientific acquaintance with the spiritual side 
of life establishes the fact of two correlated worlds 
of matter, life, intelligence and love. Man 
occupies each of these worlds in turn. The inves- 
tigator discovers that both are governed by one 
set of general principles and that causes in one 
world may produce effects in the other. 

There is no death. Instead, a man has one 
life in two worlds. When he leaves the physical 
body he simply takes up life on the other side as 
would any stranger suddenly transported to some 
strange and unfamiliar country. He takes up 
life under new conditions while remaining in 
essence the same man he was on earth. He is 
released from physical exactions and physical 
activities, nothing more. He continues to feel 
the same impulses, passions, appetites and desires 
that he had encouraged here. He is moved by 
the same hopes and aspirations which governed 



[ 56 ] 



Life Here and There 



him here. He is released from physical toil but 
not from activity. He does not suffer pain 
through physical disease. He is not, however, 
exempt from pain. 

All of which means that an ex-human being is 
the identical individual who passes from this life 
to that, be he wise or foolish, good or evil. 

Spiritual life is an inevitable sequence cn! 
physical life and development. An intelligent, 
purposeful and happy spiritual life depends upon 
the substantial basis of an intelligent, purposeful 
and chaste hirnian life. Man is, therefore, the 
arbiter of his own destiny. Nature furnishes the 
time and the opportunity. Man is left to either 
improve or waste his time. He is left to accept 
or ignore the opportunities which Natiure offers. 

What may appear to be adverse conditions in 
this life may, in fact, be the very conditions which 
best develop the in dividual spiritually and morally. 

With this array of important facts Nattiral 
Science looks upon the evolution of man from a 
very different point of view from that taken by 
either scientific skepticism or dogmatic theology. 
These conclusions represent the combined re- 
search, experiment, experience and judgment of 
all the great Masters of the Law, past and present. 
Thus it follows that the whole philosophy of life is 
based upon the proposition, LIFE HERE AND 
HEREAFTER HAS A COMMON DEVELOP- 
MENT AND ACOMMON PURPOSE.— /i./^. 70. 
[ 57 ] 



5. HOW WE MAY MEET THEM AGAIN. 

Could we know that it is possible 
once more to meet and commune with 
our loved ones, is there any effort we 
woula spare, any sacrifice we would 
forego, to do so? To those who "hav6 
loved and lost,'* is there any bliss thaj> 
could be imagined comparable to thes 
blessedness of reunion and communion 
with the dear ones gone before? 

We are so much creatures of educa- 
tion and habit, so prone to take on the 
color and tone of our age and environ- 
ment, so accustomed to the idea that a 
blank, impenetrable wall shuts off the 
dead from the living, that we would be 
very apt, at least at first, to doubt the 
sanity of him who says it is possible to 
view the things of the Spirit World 
while yet in the flesh. 

Yet the Great School of Natural 
Science, after ages of proved, scientific 
experimentation, assures us this can be 
done, although the way to such Spirit- 
ual unfoldment is long and toilsome, 
rough and rugged. 

Between the visible and the invisible, between 
earth and heaven, rolls no impassable gulf. All 
life is one and inseparable. All trath is one and 

[ 58 ] 



How We May Meet Them 



indivisible. There is no death, there is only 
transition. — Dream Child, p. 96 (2). 

The evidences of life after physical death, as 
obtained by men of science, are evidences which 
flow from a personal and purely rational course 
of development. 

The formula for this course is based upon exact 
knowledge of certain ftmdamental elements and 
principles in Nature. It is a formula which has 
been successfully demonstrated by the special 
students of all ages. It is a far more exacting 
course of discipline than those prescribed by our 
great universities. It includes development in 
the physical, spiritual, mental and moral depart- 
ments of life. This formula of self -development 
has been known only to the few. Hints of this 
definite, tried, tested and fully demonstrated 
method may be fotmd in a few existing publica- 
tions. The authors, however, writing for the 
general public, have so veiled their true meanings 
in allegory, poetry and mystical symbolism as to 
conceal rather than reveal the correct principles 
and the true method of development. 

A notable instance is the Bulwer literature, [It 
is a fact not generally known that Bulwer was a 
Student of the Great School and was deeply 
versed in occult matters.] His ^^Zanoni" and 
*' Strange Story'' have been at once the puzzle 



[ 59 ] 



''Why Weepest Thou?'' 



and delight of the past half century. — Harmonics 
of Evolution, p. 30. 

Asceticism, to some extent, is an important 
factor in the development of spiritual insight and 
of spiritual powers. The fasting, solitude and 
silence set forth, with more or less prominence, 
in all sacred writings have a rational and sci- 
entific explanation in natural law. The long fast 
maintained by Christ was not a theatric episode. 
It was a matter of pure science. The Apostles 
were taught the value of asceticism. John the 
Baptist attained spiritual vision partly through 
such means. The same is true of St. Paul. 

No eater of meat and drinker of wine, nor one 
given to undue physical indulgence, has thus far 
in the history of spiritual development demon- 
strated the fact of life after death, scientifically. 

While there is but one purely rational and sci- 
entific course of spiritual self -development, there 
have been and still are, many unnatural, revolting 
and dangerous practices which enable man to 
reach spiritual vision. The horrible Yogi prac- 
tices antedate Buddhism. Buddha rejected and 
condemned that revolting formula. — Id. p. 31. 

Spiritualism is the most useless and dangerous 
form of other-worldliness. It draws the attention 
from present duties and possibilities in the present 
life, and reverses the only method by which 



[ 60 ] 



How We May Meet Them 



either any individual, or the race as a whole, 
has ever risen in the scale of being. The whole 
effort of Spiritualism would seem to be to de- 
termine and to force the return of a disembodied 
soul to earthly consciousness, and to drag it back 
into matter; while every thoughtful person ought 
to be aware that the elevation of man depends 
on the degree in which he rises toward the spirit- 
ual world. The time will doubtless come when 
the so-called materializations will be better under- 
stood, and every clean person will avoid them as 
the more enlightened among the Spiritualists 
do now. Admitting, for th e sake of the argument, 
the whole philosophy and phenomena of modem 
Spiritualism, these efforts to drag the soul back to 
earth and down into matter can justly be com- 
pared to criminal abortion, where the embryo is 
wrenched from its normal environment by an 
impulse akin to murder, the fitting handmaid of 
animal lust. — A Study of Man, p. i8o. 

The exact and scientific formula for self- 
development rests upon that fundamental prin- 
ciple in Nature which is commonly termed the 
law of Motion and Nimiber. This law of Mo- 
tion and Nvimber (so termed by the ancients) or 
the law of Vibration (so termed by the modems) 
is, in fact, the spiritual principle of polarity. The 
law of polarity has to do with the positive and 
receptive vital energies in Nature acting upon 

[ 6i ] 



''Why Weepest Thouf 



matter. The law of vibration or polarity has to 
do (primarily) with the refinement of matter and 
its rate of vibratory action.- — Harmonics oj Evo- 
lutiofiy p. 33. 

The student of Natural Science undertakes his 
own development in conformity with this law of 
vibration. He undertakes it having in mind the 
triune nature of man. That is, he accepts, as a 
working corollary, the proposition that man 
is composed of body, spirit and soul. This 
means that man has a physical body and a spirit- 
ual body which are controlled and operated by 
the highest entity, the intelligent ego, the soul. 
Accepting this proposition as a working principle, 
he proceeds to demonstrate for himself by purely 
rational and scientific means and methods. — Id. 

P' 39. 

The law he evokes to carry out that demonstra- 
tion is the law of vibration, that law which refines 
matter and increases its vibratory action. The 
physical body is composed of physical matter. 
The particles which are coarse in texture move at 
a correspondingly low rate of vibratory action. 
The physical body is provided with physical 
sensory organs. Natiu*e conditions these organs 
to receive and register the vibrations of physical 
matter only. These vibrations are registered 
upon the physical brain, through which instru- 



[ 62 ] 



How We May Meet Them 



ment they become cognizant to the intelligent 
soul. 

The physical sensory organs are not adapted 
to all of the vibrations of even physical raatter. 
Their combined powers only embrace a limited 
range of vibration. This range includes only the 
vibrations of physical matter which lie upon the 
same plane of refinement and vibratory action 
as the physical body itself. By aid of these 
organs the intelligent ego or soul becomes cog- 
nizant of different external physical objects, 
elements and conditions. The recognition by 
the ego of ihese external physical objects, ele- 
ments and conditions constitutes what we term 
physical sensation. 

Each one of the physical organs of sensation 
recf ives and registers a different range of vibra- 
tion. The whole surface of the physical body it- 
self is so supplied with sensory nerves as to 
become a medium of vibrations. The general 
sense of touch is experienced when any portion 
of the physical body comes in contact with 
physical matter that is made up of the coarser 
particles moving at the lower rates of vibration. 
—Id. p. 39. 

The spiritual body of a man is composed of 
' 'spiritual material,'* that is, of matter much 
finer than the finest physical matter, and moving 
at a higher rate of vibration than the finest parti- 



[ 63 ] 



Why Weepest Thou?'' 



cles of physical matter moving at their highest 
possible rate. The spiritual body permeates the 
physical and constitutes the model upon which 
physical material integrates. The spiritual body, 
like the physical, is provided with five sensory 
organs. They are adapted to receive and register 
vibrations of spiritual material only, that is, of 
matter lying upon the same plane of vibratory 
action as the spiritual body itself. By the aid 
of these organs the intelligent ego becomes cog- 
nizant of different external spiritual objects, 
elements and conditions. The recognition by 
the ego of these objects, elements and conditions 
constitutes what we term spiritual sensation. — Id. 
p. 42. 

The preparatory work of every student's life 
may be said to be chemical. The chemical re- 
finement of the physical body is the foundation 
upon which he builds. This refinement is brought 
about solely through scientific knowledge of the 
vibratory principles. Given a healthy body, a 
vigorous brain, a determined will and the proper 
instruction and environment, and the course of 
this self-development will increase rather than 
impair the physical strength. Unnatural and 
unscientific methods only do injury to either the 
body or the mind. Ignorant experiment is al- 
ways fraught with danger. 

The chemical refinement of the physical body 



[ 64 ] 



How We May Meet Them 



is brought about to a certain degree by a system 
of diet. Fine foods in limited quantities are 
substituted for coarse food in unlimited quantity. 
By fine food is not meant rich food, but fine 
natural food, as grain, fruit and nuts. Supple- 
menting this dietary course is a systematic covirse 
of exercises which may be termed breathing 
exercises. This is a course of training analogous 
to our athletic exercises. It is, in fact, a purely 
physical training, having in view primarily an 
increased regular and rapid oxygenation of the 
body. Supplementing this chemical and physical 
course of development is a purely intellectual 
system of training. This is a course of instruction 
by which the mental powers and the will are 
trained to the knowledge and emplojnnent of 
Nature's finer forces. — Id, p, 46. 

Ordinarily, the physical body in its coarser 
state is opaque to its own embodied spiritual 
sensory organs. It has the effect of darkness 
to spiritual vision. When the physical body is 
refined to a certain stage under scientific direction, 
a remarkable thing occiirs to the student. While 
still exercising his own will and rational powers 
he finds himself, as it were, in a house of glass. 
He finds that he is able to exercise independently 
first one, then another, and finally all of the 
spiritual organs of sensation. He does this 



[ 6s ] 



''Why Weepest Thou?'' 



independently of the material composing his 
physical body. 

He finds himself now just as consciously and as 
rationally in touch with the spiritual plane as he 
is ordinarily with the physical. He now feels the 
touch of spiritual objects. He hears spiritual 
soimds . He smells spiritual odors. He also sees ob- 
jects which are reflected by the rays of spiritual light . 

The spiritual plane is just as tangible and visible 
to a spiritual man as our physical plane is tangible 
and visible to the physically embodied man. 
The hand-clasp of two spiritual beings is just as 
real as, and far more magnetic than, that of two 
physically embodied individuals. 

This free outlook upon the spiritual plane is the 
first great victory of the student. (Other still 
greater victories are explained in the Texts which 
lack of space forbids our mentioning here.) 

Thus, by personal experiment under an exact 
scientific formula a man in the physical body 
proves the existence of a spiritual world in- 
habited by ex-himaan beings. This experiment 
involves the demonstration of the fact that there 
is no death. 

This is the most important single discovery 
ever made by finite science. To prove that death 
does not end all has been the most valuable single 
achievement of man in the physical body. — Id, />. 48 . 

This experiment involves no risk. It is indis- 



[ 66 ] 



How We May Meet Them 



putable proof of the spiritual side of Nature. It 
is indisputable proof of the fact of life after 
physical death. It is to this point of demonstra- 
tion that the school of Natural Science is prepared to 
carry any man who possesses the necessary qualifica- 
ticns of body, mind, will and motive. — Id. p. 49. 

The past half -century has been a turning point 
in the history of the highest races. Certain 
groups of the Anglo-Saxon race have reached that 
stage of physical refinement which mxakes access 
to the spiritual plane comparatively easy. 

There are, however, dangers to be encotmtered 
by reason of this near approach of the two worlds. 
The daily press is filled with accoimts of hysterical 
mediums and hypnotic crimes. Everybody is 
investigating. Most of these investigators are 
walking blindly into danger. 

The chief difficulties to be overcome by the 
Student of Natural Science are not dietary. He 
meets something more exacting than the mere 
demands of the physical appetites and passions. 
The intellectual and moral demands of this 
philosophy constitute the severest test to which 
he will be subjected. 

Neither torture of the physical body, the re- 
nim.ciation of material comfort, nor the sup- 
pression of the affections is required of the modem 
student. Holiness in the modem sense does not 
mean a life of isolation, introspection and sub- 



[ 67 ] 



''Why Weepest Thou?'' 



jective ecstasy. Instead, it means a practical 
life in the midst of men. It means a natural, 
wholesome, himaan life lived out in conformity 
to the spiritual principles in Nature and the re- 
quirements of an intelligent soul. 

It means a practical share in the world's activi- 
ties, benefits and accomplishments. It means an 
exemplification of natural, physical law upon the 
physical plane of life, as well as natural spiritual 
laws through physical conditions. — Id. p. 55. 

To such a man as this, however. Natural Sci- 
ence opens the way to this formula far enough to 
demonstrate that this philosophy has a scientific 
basis. The individual may do this without 
detriment to health, to business, or to any earthly 
relation or ambition. More than this, he is as- 
sured that he would be able to fulfill the last re- 
quirement of that formula without violating * 'his 
duty to his God, his religion, his country, his 
neighbor, his family or himself.'' — Id, p. 56. 

THIS PERSONAL EXPERIMENT, GOV- 
ERNED BY EXACT RULES AND IN CLOSE 
CONFORMITY TO NATURAL LAW, CON- 
STITUTES THE SCIENTIFIC DEMONSTRA- 
TION OF THE PACT OF LIFE AFTER 
PHYSICAL DEATH.— 7J. p, 57- 

[ 68 ] 



6 THE SOUL'S HIGHWAY 

The Independent Method of Spirit- 
ual Unfoldment comprehends a rigid 
course of intellectual and moral, as 
well as physical, training. It is based 
upon a scientifically wrought code of 
Morality. Its fundamental teaching 
is the Living of a Life of strictest moral 
rectitude. The refinement of the phys- 
ical body is chiefly gained through re- 
finement of the texture of the Soul and 
the SouFs straightest highway to the 
Celestial City is the Royal Highway of 
Prayer. 

We have already seen that, while the physica 
body, in its ordinary coarser state, is opaque to 
its own embodied spiritual sensory organs, and 
has the effect of darkness to spiritual vision, when 
it is refined to a certain stage under scientific 
direction, its possessor, while still exercising his 
own will and rational powers, finds that he is, as 
it were, in a house of glass, and is able to exercise 
independently first one, then another, and 
finally all, of the spiritual organs of sensation. 

We have also already learned that, when the 
student has reached this point, he is just as 
consciously and rationally in touch with the 

[ 69 ] 



''Why Weepest Thouf' 



spiritual plane as he is ordinarily with the 
physical; that he feels the touch of spiritual 
objects, hears spiritual sounds, smells spiritual 
odors, and sees objects reflected by the rays of 
spiritual light. — Harmonics oj Evolution, p. 48. 

While it is true that this chemical refinement 
to such a degree that it will respond to impressions 
from the spiritual plane is brought about, to a 
certain degree, by a system of diet and that fine 
foods refine, while coarse foods coarsen, the 
texture of the tissues of the body, — {Id, pp. 46, 51.) 
it is also true that the chief difficulties to be 
overcome by him who seeks Independent Spirit- 
ual Unfoldment are not dietary. — Id. p. 55. 

Mastership is not a problem in dietetics. 
Constructive Spirituality is not a question of 
food. True Religion is not fotinded upon a bill 
of fare — The Great Work, p. 413. 

While Independent Spiritual Unfoldment in- 
volves the co-ordinaticn of the physical condition 
with the unfolding condition of the Soul, — {Id. 
p. 420.) constructive Spirituality — the ability to 
see, hear, touch, taste, and smell the things of the 
''other Coimtry," to meet and mingle with those 
whom we have 'lost awhile" — ^is almost entirely 
a thing of the Soul. 

The refining process which is to make one 
Master of these finer forces and more subtle 
powers of Nature is not simply an art; it is a 



[ 70 ] 



The SouVs Highway 



transformation of man's whole being, a higher 
evolution, a regeneration. — Constructive Psychol- 
ogyy pp. 89, 90. 

* 'Mystics'' and ' 'Saints" in all ages, by fasting, 
prayer and meditation, have gained refined and 
wider range of perception, though knowing and 
learning nothing of the science of the method, or 
the meaning of the law. — Constructive Psychology ^ 
p. 88. 

Constructive Spirituality (by which is meant 
the Independent Unfoldment of the Intelligent 
Soul of Man wherein it is brought into conscious 
and immediate contact with the world of spiritual 
material and spiritual things through the channels 
of the Five Spiritual Senses {The Great Work, 
p. 127,) rests upon a scientific basis. That basis 
is Morality. The process of development begins 
with the study of Moral Principles. The next 
regular step in the process is the dt finite practice 
by the student of those principles in his daily life 
and conduct, in good faith, and without equivoca- 
tion, mental reservation, or evasion of any kind 
whatsoever. In other words, he is obligated to 
make of his life a living exemplification of the 
moral principles which his reason and his con- 
science accept. The fundamental principle upon 
which the Independent Method of Spiritual Self- 
Development depends is Morality. The essential 
key to that method is the exemplification of moral 



[ 71 ] 



''Why Weepest Thouf' 



principles in the daily life and conduct of the 
individual concerned. The scientific basis of 
''Spiritual Evolution" which alone leads onward 
and upward to individual ' 'Mastership'' is — 
simply and solely, — Morality. — The Great Work, 
p. T44. 

In other words, Morality is Nature's established 
foimdation for the support of Constructive 
Spirituality. There is none other. — The Great 
Work, p. 148. 

The Master Jesus was not merely rhapsodizing 
nor indulging in mere figures of speech, as many 
who profess to follow Him would seem to imply, 
when, in the Eighth Beatitude, he said ' 'Blessed 
are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." 
On the contrary, he was talking ' 'science. " Per, 
whilst we do not know that the eye of man has 
ever beheld the great ''God of the Universe" 
which we designate as the "Great Universal 
Intelligence," yet we do know that "the pure in 
heart" may in time, under proper instruction, 
develop the independent power of spiritual vision 
by the Constructive Process, whereby at will they 
may penetrate the realms of spiritual material 
and commune with those who, by comparison, 
are as "Gods" to men. And we further know 
that their ability ever to accomplish this pro- 
found achievement is fundamentally due to the 
fact that they are ' 'pure in heart. " — Id, p. 149. 

[ 72 ] 



The SouVs Highway 



The definite work of Constructive Unfoldment, 
therefore, is not merely an intellectual diversion 
or employment . While it is all that, it is also vastly 
more than that, for it is the application of moral 
principles to human conduct. It involves the 
LIVING OF A LIFE in conformity with the 
Constructive Principle of Nature. — Id. p. 151. 

The body of man is a human form in which 
to unfold divine attributes — a wayside inn in the 
upward joimiey of the Soul. — A Study of Man, 
p. 126. 

The great Law of Personal Responsibility, 
which makes every individual personally responsi- 
ble for all his thoughts, words and deeds, which is 
inexorable, which no one can evade or avoid, can 
only be fulfilled by the Living of this Life, — The 
Great Work, p. 386. 

The one Standard by which so to Live the Life 
as to discharge the individual's Personal Re- 
sponsibility is the standard of his own best intelli- 
gence and highest ideals of Justice, Equity and 
Right at any given time. This standard is at 
the basis of all Constructive Spirituality and con- 
stitutes one of the fundamental keys to Inde- 
pendentent Spiritual Unfoldment. 

Every individual is bound by his Personal 
Responsibility to conform his life to that Stand- 
ard.— r^e Great Work, p. 388. 

Mrs. A. J. Stanley has, from another viewpoint, 



73 ] 



''Why Weepest Thou?'' 



very finely described this Living of a Life: — *'He 
has achieved success who has lived well, laughed 
often and loved nauch; who has gained the respect 
of intelligent men and the love of little children; 
who has filled his niche and accomplished his task; 
who has left the world better than he foimd it, 
whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem 
or a rescued soul; who has never lacked apprecia- 
tion of earth's beauty nor failed to expressit; who 
has always looked for the best in others and given 
the best he had; whose life has been an inspira- 
tion, whose memory a benediction." 

Now, while Morality is the foundation of Con- 
structive Spirituality, Prayer is a very important 
part of its superstructure. If Constructive 
Spirituality may be likened to a splendid tree. 
Morality would represent its roots firmly planted 
in the ground, through which it draws in the life- 
giving sap from the fertile soil, while Prayer would 
represent the myriad leaves of its foliage, through 
which the life-giving elements of sun and sky and 
air are added to that sap. 

The Great School teaches that Intelligent 
Prayer is the open door between the two worlds. 
Right Praying is the bond between those who need 
and those who can give. — Who A nswers Prayer, p. 3 7 . 

Men must Pray, and whether they pray rightly 
or wrongly, whether they pray intelligently or 



[ 74 ] 



The SouVs Highway 



ignorantly or selfishly, the Impiilse to Pray must 
be gratified. 

The appeal to a Higher Power is as natural, 
as inevitable and as necessary as food for the 
physical body. The Soul of man is as insistent 
for its natural sustenance as is the body. No 
matter imder what guise, no matter how foolishly 
or how selfishly that appeal is made, nor with 
what superstitions or mummeries, the simple 
fact remains that MEN MUST PRAY. 

If God or Nature had not endowed the indi- 
vidual man or woman with an Intuitive Appre- 
hension of Spiritual Things and Higher Intelli- 
gences, these towering systems of 'Vorship''. 
never could have risen in infant races and flowered 
in the maturer ones. — Who Answers Prayer , pp. 

34, 35. 

The conscious soul of every individual of earth, 
whether he knows it or not, whether he wills it or 
not, is so intimately associated with the greater 
world of Spiritual Life that his cry can be heard 
by vast ntunbers of those who inhabit this higher 
plane of life and activity. — Who Answers Prayer? 
pp. 25, 26. 

Under certain conditions there are petitions 
from those on the spiritual side of life to some 
wiser friend in the physical body. — Id. p. 38. 

Right praying is the bond between those who 
need and those who can give. The whole oflSce 



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''Why Weepest Thou?'' 



and meaning and purpose of Prayer is Mutual 
Service. — Id. p. ^y (2). 

In order that it may comply with the Con- 
structive Principle, prayer involves in the life of 
him who prays, an attitude of soul very different 
from that of the individual who asks with no 
higher motive than to satisfy a selfish desire, or 
mere want. 

Constructive Prayer is never selfish. Whilst 
it involves the asking and the receiving, both of 
which are selfish when limited to a purely personal 
want, Constructive Prayer involves yet another 
element which far transcends a purely personal 
self interest. 

This other element is the Law of Compensation, 
the Law of Mutual Service, the Law of Right Use. 

This Great Law fixes upon every individual the 
obligation to become the true and willing servant 
of all men. 

Under it, no man has the moral right to pray 
for that which, if granted, would deprive another 
who is in equal need, or would become to himself 
a mere personal and selfish benefit, from which 
all others are excluded. The very attitude of 
soul which prays for special and exclusive benefits, 
without regard for the interests of others, is 
spiritually destructive. 

To answer such a prayer is only to add to its 



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The SouVs Highway 



destructive impulse. — Who Answers Prayer? 

PP' 5h 52> 

It should be our purpose to make each indi- 
vidual life both a prayer and an answer to prayer. 

—Id, p, 62. 
He prayeth well who loveth well 
Both Man and Bird and Beast. 

He prayeth best who loveth best 
All things both great and small, 

For the great God who loveth us 
He made them one and all. 
We must pray with hands full of burdens, with 
hearts full of sympathy, and with feet bent on 
missions of charity. — A Study of Marty p. 214. 

OUR CREED 

Who asks not, the chambers are darkened, 
Where his Soul sits in silence alone. 

Who gives not, his Soul never hearkened 
To the love call of zone tmto zone. 

Who PRAYS not, exists, but he lives not; 
A blot and a discord is he. 

Who asks not, receives not and gives not 
Were better (far) drowned in the sea. 

Ah, the asking, receiving and giving, 
Is the Soul of the life that we live. 

All the beauty and sweetness of living 
Is to ASK, to RECEIVE and to GIVE. 



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(( 



Why Weepest TJiouf' 



PRAYER 
Lean on thyself tintil thy strength is tried; 
Then ask God's help, it will not be denied. 

Use thine own sight to see the way to go; 
When darkness falls ask God the path to show. 

Think for thyself and reason out thy plan; 
God has his work and thou hast thine. 

Exert thy will and use it for control; 
God gave thee jurisdiction of thy soul. 

All thine immortal powers bring into play; 
Think, act, strive, reason, then look up and 
pray. — Ella Wheeler Wilcox. 

A BEAUTIFUL PRAYER 
The following beautiful prayer, 'Tor a De- 
parted Friend," was written by Rev. William 
Griffeths, of Worcester, England. It was pri- 
vately circulated, and was used in Gladstone's 
family, among others. It was later published in 
church papers and as a leaflet. With certain 
changes it was recited when the body of Mr. 
Gladstone was deposited in Westminster Abbey, 
After this, it came into general use, iaterest in it 
being increased by the knowledge of Gladstone's 
practice of praying for the dead. 

It has comforted me so much that it is printed 
here in the hope that you may be blessed by it 
is I have been. 

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The SouVs Highway 



* 'O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, in 
whose embrace creatures live, in whatsoever world 
or condition they be: I beseech Thee for her 
whose narae and dwelling-pl^ce, and every need 
Thou knowest. Lord, vouchsafe to her light 
and rest, peace and refreshment, joy and con- 
solation, in Paradise, in the companionship of 
saints, in the presence of Christ, in the ample 
folds of Thy great love. 

Grant that her life (so troubled here) may un- 
fold itself in Thy sight, and find a sweet employ- 
ment in the spacious fields of Eternity. If she 
hath ever been hurt or maimed by any unhappy 
word or deed of mine, I pray Thee of Thy great 
pity to heal and restore her that ^^she may serve 
Thee without hindrance. 

Tell her, O Gracious Lord, if it may be, 
how much I love her and miss her and long to 
see her again; and if there be ways in which she 
may come, vouchsafe her to me as a guide and 
guard, and grant me a sense of her nearness in 
such degree as Thy laws permit. 

If in aught I can minister to her peace, be 
pleased of Thy love to let this be; and mercifully 
keep me from every act which may deprive me 
of the sight of her as soon as our trial time is 
over, or mar the fullness of our joy when the 
end of the days hath come. 

PARDON, O Gracious Lord and Father, what- 



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''Why Weepest Thouf' 



soever is amiss [in this my prayer, and let Thy 
will be done; for my will is blind and erring, but 
Thine is guided by infinite wisdom and able to 
do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or 
think; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen." 



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